OBOC - Cuba

The comparison between Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits and Daina Chaviano’s The Island of Eternal Love is valid on some levels. Both writers left their country of birth amidst a social revolution (the former by the capitalists, the latter by the socialists though) and migrated to America forever longing for the country they left behind at the same time hating it for it had turned into. Similar to Allende’s novel  Chaviano’s work also encompasses multiple generations, strong women characters, invokes magical realism, spirits, and is set in a historical context. But the comparison ends there, at least according to me.

I just couldn’t connect to this novel as I did to the House of Spirits. Chaviano’s work appears to be a bit incoherent and frankly did not have the power of Isabel Allende’s words. But that doesn’t mean it is not a book to be picked up. I think it has a lot of promise and was very interesting in parts.

One of the things I learned from the book is the multi-cultural/ethnic face of Cuba – an amalgam of Chinese, Black and Spanish cultures. The book also portrays the Cubans love for music beautifully. The revolution and the counter revolution are discussed and the author doesn’t mince words about how she feels about the revolution and what it has done to her beloved country. 

As for the story, it is told in two time lines – one in the present day and one that starts a century ago and the two stories meet at the end of the book. The current day story is about Cecilia who is a Miami reporter investigating the appearance of phantom houses on certain dates associated with the fate of Cuba, seen only by those who are open to supernatural experiences. Cecilia is lonely, separated from her family and her country of birth and is going through a bout of depression in trying to decipher her place in Miami.

Cecilia meets a fellow Cuban, an old lady, Amalia, in a bar who narrates her life story which has its roots in China, Spain and Africa – all coming together in Cuba. Through her story we get a glimpse of Cuban political, cultural, ethnic history not to mention the religious/occult/fantastical traditions among the different communities. The Chinese family in the book uses dreams to play the lottery, the Black family sees ghosts and the daughter is possessed by a demon and the Spanish family where all the women upon hitting puberty have to deal with Martinico the imp

At first the story of Cecilia’s investigation seemed interesting but after a point it failed to hold my attention. The other story narrated by Amalia on the other hand was much more intriguing and almost made me skip alternate chapters to get to it! Overall if I had a rating system I would give this book 3 stars out of 5. Not as gripping as I hoped it would be.

OBOC - Cote d'Ivorie (Ivory Coast)

White woman lives for a year in a remote village in Africa and writes a book about that experience - what can one expect? Romanticizing? Condescending? Patronizing? Prying? How about sensitivity for a change? That's exactly what stood out in Carol Spindel's "In the shadow of the sacred grove" a book based on her experiences in a West African village in the Ivory Coast which she calls Kalikaha to preserve the anonymity.

Spindel, an artist, accompanies her then boyfriend Tom who was performing field work on Agriculture, to Ivory Coast not knowing what she was going to do. She doesn't attempt to gloss over any of the difficulties she faced - the complete lack of privacy, the heat and dust, bats in the bedroom, no running water. But what was most frustrating for her was the inability to communicate directly with the villagers who spoke either Dyula or Senufo and having to rely on their translator and assistant Yardjuma.

Her curious yet patient temperament and excellent listening and language (she learns some Dyula) skills come to her aide as she befriends the women of the village (especially the potters) slowly and is therefore able to provide an insider view of not just this village but about Africa as a whole.

There are some very vivid and poetic descriptions of the pottery, the masks, the drums, the music, the festivals and the funerals, but those are not the reasons why her writing stands out. She is exceptional when she writes with tremendous understanding and respect about the differences between the Africa of the '80s and the Western World.

Whether it is wealth or technology there is a wide gap between the villagers and Tom and Carol despite the fact that the two of them were "poor" researchers on a shoe string budget. Technology to a villager meant knowing how to extract oil from seeds, make bricks and utensils with their own hands, pick the right grasses for making the roof and to survive in that environment every villager needed to possess an intimate knowledge of everything around them. In observing the difference Carol remarks "They credited us with the same intimate knowledge of our own possessions, but I could not possibly explain to them how our shortwave radio worked or what ingredients were used in making plastic"

The way the women made pottery broke every rule that was taught in the West in a modern art class but at the same time she is poignantly reminded that simple medicines like antacids, a piece of floss string and basic hygiene cured illnesses and saved lives when folk remedies could not.

Some of the most sensitive portrayal was about the role of women in this society. Despite being an independent, strong willed woman from the West, Carol does not dismiss the women of the village for being subservient to the men. She clearly sees their courage and wisdom and is almost envious of the strong bonds among the women. While the West has a negative view on aging, she is touched by the immense respect commanded by the older women who guide the younger ones.

Where she shows remarkable restraint is when she comes face to face with practices like polygamy, female circumcision - very hard for any westerner to understand. She neither condemns nor condones these practices but manages to objectively capture them in her book. Another instance of this restraint is how she is not quick to pass judgment on all Africans based on her singular bad experience with Yardjuma.

And then who can forgot the "blessings" or greetings that people called out to each other a thousand times a day. In a world where a quick nod, a weak smile, a simple Hello have become accepted forms of greetings who has the time for long contextually relevant phrases like "Allah ka nagoya kay" (May God make it better).But these are more than just greetings in Kalikaha, they are fervent appeals to a god who has to come to their assistance right now - not sometime in the future and not in the abstract. Life is rough and any assistance from any superior power is needed for hope to spring amidst some desperate situations. The effect these blessings have on Carol is obvious when she finally has the courage to call them what they really were - "prayers".

One of my main objectives for OBOC was not to form an opinion of any culture based on a single story i have heard. Carol Spindle's book captures all the different stories in a single Ivory Coast village in such a sensitive way that it is truly a great book for this project!